Daniel Rich

G Michael reporting for AFANA from South Australia

With top spot on the line and talk during the week of a soft draw, the Adelaide Crows had all the reason to come out firing against the Brisbane Lions. Within minutes of the opening bounce, the fans could see a determined Crows outfit making light work of the lowly placed Lions and, with five losses out of their last six games, Brisbane could be excused for looking forward to season end. Adelaide looked strong across almost every position on the ground, and with Dangerfield and Thompson collecting 10 disposals each, the Crows looked to have all the answers early on. Brisbane failed to score a single goal in the first quarter - their lowest first quarter score for the year - while goals to Jenkins, Vince, Walker, Johncock and two goals to Callinan saw the Crows bolt out to a 38 point lead at the first break.

Two weeks ago at Patersons Stadium, the Fremantle Dockers played their first game against Geelong as if they were Grand Final material. In Round 3 against the Brisbane Lions they looked second rate. First blood went to the Lions with Todd Banfield awarded a free kick after Stephen Hill bamboozled himself and ran too far with the football. Brisbane was all over the more fancied home side which was hesitant in its disposals and not kicking truly when in possession of the ball. Both teams had a full court press on with their zones and the game resembled a chess match as each side tried to move the ball forward. Unfortunately it was not a Boris Spassky-Bobby Fisher level game but more like their unprepared understudies stepping into the spotlight.

Fremantle kept its Finals' hopes intact with a convincing win over the Brisbane Lions at Patersons Stadium in Round 14. The Dockers were without Michael Barlow who pulled up sore after his comeback game last week, but Alex Silvagni was back to add some muscle in defense. Brisbane had been doing well since the return of bruising full forward and captain Jonathon Brown, but had their worries without classy midfielder Drew Banfield in the team.

The following is the time line for the the Grand Final day events including key times for match and TV related activities.   All times are listed first in Australian AEST and then in US EDT.  This is based on information from the AFL and past history.  (Updated with honored legends, etc.):

Time AEST/US EDT  Event             
9:00 AM / 7:00 PM NAB AFL U/16 Division 2 Grand Final - Queensland v New South Wales (live on AFL.com.au)  Coverage on the AFL web site will commence from 8.50 AM AEST / 6:50 PM EDT.  (Moved to Visy Park because of weather.)
10:38 AM / 8:38 PM NAB AFL U/16 Division 2 Grand Final concludes
10:50 AM / 8:50 PM NAB AFL U/16 Division 1 Grand Final - Victoria Country v South Australia (live on AFL.com.au)  (Moved to Visy Park because of weather.)
11:34 AM / 9:34 PM Division 1 half time TAC Presentation /  Gillette AFL Grand Final Sprint heats
12:40 PM / 10:40 PM NAB AFL U/16 Division 1 Grand Final concludes
12:42 PM / 10:42 PM On-field presentation of Div. 1 and 2 Grand Final awards       
12:55 PM / 10:55 PM Delivery of match footballs to Umpires
1.00 PM / 11:00 PM On-field pre-match set up
1.10 PM – 1.25 PM / 11:10 PM – 11:25 PM Preliminary on-field warm-up opportunity for competing clubs
1:25 PM / 11:25 PM Stage and sound set in centre square
1:30 PM / 11:30 PM Pre-match entertainment begins
featuring Jimmy Barnes and Mark Seymour
1:30 PM / 11:30 PM International TV feed begins including coverage on ESPN Classic and ESPN360

Daniel Rich made a triumphant return to his old stomping ground of Subiaco Oval for the Round 16 match between Brisbane and Fremantle. Taken at number seven pick in the 2008 AFL draft, Rich was overlooked by local teams Fremantle and West Coast who preferred to use their early draft picks for Stephen Hill and Nic Naitanui respectively.